By AP/KWMU
Jefferson City, Mo – The Missouri Legislature adjourned its regular session Friday. Here's a look at some of the bills that passed:
WHAT PASSED
ABORTION
Subjects abortion clinics to greater state oversight, bans people affiliated with abortion clinics from teaching sex education classes and allows abstinence-only sex education courses. (HB1055)
BUDGET
A $21.5 billion operating budget boosts funding for education and Medicaid and provides pay raises to state employees and service providers. (HBs1-13)
DEATH PENALTY
Makes secret the identities of those who carry out executions, granting them the right to sue anyone who reveals their names. (HB820)
DOMESTIC VIOLENCE
Makes secret the identities of rape, sexual assault, domestic violence and stalking victims. Allows domestic violence victims to direct their mail through an alternative address. (HB583)
ENGLISH
A proposed constitutional amendment would ask statewide voters to make English the language of all officials proceedings in Missouri. Likely to appear on the November 2008 ballot. (HJR7)
EYE EXAMS
Requires children starting kindergarten or first grade to undergo an eye exam by a doctor or optometrist, starting in July 2008, unless their parents excuse them. (SB16)
FIRE SAFETY
Requires sprinkler systems in many assisted living, nursing and residential care facilities by the end of 2012 and complete fire alarm systems by the end of 2008 a response to a fire that killed 11 people last November at an Anderson group home for the mentally ill and disabled. (HB952)
GUNS
- People who use deadly force against someone who illegally enters their home, car or other dwelling would be protected from criminal prosecution and civil lawsuits. (SB62)
- Taking lawfully owned firearms during an emergency would be illegal a response to efforts by officials in New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina. (SB257)
HEALTH CARE
Renames the Medicaid program as "MO HealthNet" with a greater emphasis on preventive care. Restores coverage and certain health benefits to some, but not all, of the people whose services were cut two years ago. (SB577)
HEALTH INSURANCE
Authorizes state tax credits for people who purchase their own health insurance. Expands eligibility and lowers premiums for a high-risk health insurance pool. Legalizes certified midwives, who currently could face felony charges for helping deliver babies. (HB818)
HIGHER EDUCATION
Authorizes the Missouri Higher Education Loan Authority to pay $350 million over six years to the state for college buildings. Limits tuition increases and creates more financial-need scholarships. (SB389 and HB16)
MENTAL HEALTH
Imposes new requirements for reporting suspected abuse and neglect in mental health facilities and creates the crime of "vulnerable person abuse." Opens reports of substantiated abuse and neglect claims to the public. (SB3)
SOCIAL SECURITY
Phases in additional state income tax exemptions for Social Security benefits and for the pension benefits of those who opted out of the Social Security system. (HB444)
TAX BREAKS
Expands existing tax breaks for businesses that add jobs with health benefits and at least average wages. Creates a tax break for developers who assemble large tracts of land in low-income areas. Provides tax breaks for investors in small businesses, Missouri-made movies, beef cattle sales, alternative fuel vehicles and other things. (HB327)
TELEVISION
Makes it easier for telephone companies to start offering video service in competition with cable TV companies by allowing statewide video franchises, instead of city-by-city agreements. (SB284)
VEHICLES
Loosens the standards on the level of damage requiring a vehicle to have a salvage title. (SB82)